Markey, Sanders, Blumenthal, Murray Urge Department of Labor to Reverse Rule That Would Weaken Worker Protections Against Big Businesses

Letter Text (PDF)

Washington (June 22, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), top Democrat on the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee and on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security, along with HELP Ranking Member Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Patty Murray (D-Wash.), today wrote to Acting Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling, calling on the Department of Labor (DOL) to withdraw its dangerous proposed rule on Joint Employer Status Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act. The proposed Rule would water down DOL enforcement investigations of big businesses, weakening worker protections and harming small businesses.

Joint employment status is when a worker has two employers (for example, a fast-food worker employed by that franchisee and the corporate franchisor). In today's economy, companies increasingly contract and subcontract out labor to a complex web of employment structures. These larger companies will often dictate significant aspects of a smaller employer's operations and employee conditions, yet at the same time, these large companies often seek to shirk responsibility and liability for any violations of workers' rights by claiming they are not the employers of these workers. The proposed rule would make it harder for DOL to classify larger employers as joint employers and thus reduce DOL's ability to hold large employers accountable for wage theft, child labor violations, FMLA violations, and other worker protections.

In the letter, the lawmakers wrote, "Contrary to DOL's purported motivations for the proposed rule, it would harm small business owners and franchisees, leaving them solely liable even when a larger employer exerts - or retains the right to exert - significant influence over their operation, such as dictating employee behavior, expectations, functions, and price of goods. Indeed, many franchisors and large employers are already significantly involved in the affairs of small businesses, setting mandatory hours of operation, supplier restrictions, and even how employees greet customers."

The lawmakers continued, "Above all, we fear the workers most vulnerable to wage theft and labor law violations are the ones who will be most negatively impacted by this proposed rule. Janitorial staff, agricultural laborers, construction workers, and nurses are some of the professions that have been increasingly outsourced to a convoluted system of contractors, subcontractors, temporary staffing agencies, and other entities in what amounts to a 'fissured workplace' where lines of employer blur and workers are left in progressively more precarious positions. For many workers, one stolen paycheck or other labor law violation can determine their ability to afford rent, groceries, or childcare."

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